Return of the Past, PrologueChapter 1
by Rhapsodos-The Moon
Summary: Cloud doesn't want to be a hero. He never did. But when a new threat awakens, he may not have a choice.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't like it had become a routine now, coming to Zack's grave, but it wasn't what you would call a habit either. It was more like a reminder. Something to remind him that he wasn't, nor would he ever be, the hero everyone made him out to be. Zack was the hero, not him. Was that why he wouldn't use the Buster Sword? Why he wouldn't pick it up in a fight? Was that why he left it where Zack had fallen? He always felt guilt rack against his senses whenever he was here, too. He should have been faster, he should have been stronger, he should have reacted better. Then maybe Zack wouldn't have had to protect him. Then maybe he wouldn't have died. There were so many 'what ifs' and 'should haves'. Wishful thinking didn't, and wouldn't ever, change the fact that Zack wasn't here and that Cloud needed to move on from the past that was strangling him.

Heh, that was easier said than done. Things weren't as simple as they used to be.

Still, he should be happy right? Sephiroth was gone and the geostigma had been purged. And yet…his arm still burned from time to time as if the disease was still there. Sometimes he had to check just to make sure it really wasn't there. He was plagued with countless, sleepless nights that tried to tell him everything wasn't alright. Something was still wrong with the world around him. And like the fool he was, he ignored it. What could possibly go wrong now? Everything that could go wrong already had. And several times over for extra measure it seemed. He didn't have much left to lose anymore, maybe besides what little sanity he'd been left with; had it ever existed in the first place. People could argue that there was Tifa. Or even Denzel and Marlene, the people close to him. But in all honesty…they were better off without him. Which was why, even a year after Sephiroth's fall, he had resumed his life of solitude and again walked away from the life of a hero that had been forced on him. The hero he wasn't and the hero he didn't deserve to ever be. He was alone.

And no matter what anyone said, he always would be. So long as his memories existed.

CHAPTER ONE.

The sky was the same as usual, the same grey, clouded, depressing sky that seemed to always dominate the skies over Midgar Edge and its outskirts. Whatever little light there was that managed to peak through the clouds threw wild, haunting shadows across the deep canyons and dirt ground. There was a light drizzle that pelted evenly against Cloud Strife and his Fenrir as the bike made its way through the emblematic weather. Cloud wasn't sure where he was headed, but at the same time he knew exactly where he was headed. It didn't make much sense, but then again, not much did these days. An entire year had gone by since he'd saved Midgar Edge from Sephiroth's wrath. Looking back on that always reminded him of just how much he really owed Zack. He'd saved him not once, but twice. He should be dead now. He shouldn't exist. But he did. And it was all because of Zack.

He was also always reminded of who he really was and what the people of Midgar Edge would always think of him as. Why did they have to label him as a hero? He'd only killed Sephiroth for his own benefit. Had he waited any longer, Sephiroth would have killed him first. He did it to save his own life and that was it.

"Come on, you know that's not true."

Fenrir came skidding to a halt as Cloud slammed on the brake, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder as if he expected to see something. There wasn't anything there, of course. Still, the voice had seemed so real to him. He'd really thought there had been someone behind him. Cloud let out a quiet sigh and turned back around, taking his hand off the brake to start it back up. The bike came to life, sending up a cloud of dust as it sped off and it wasn't long before the ground was gliding beneath the wheels of the vehicle. But it didn't take more than a few minutes for him to bring it to a halt again. He was at Zack's grave. Coming here seemed to have become an automatic reaction whenever his thoughts took a turn for the confused, or whenever they reached the point where even he couldn't understand them. Putting the kickstand into place, he walked over to the cliffside and found the Buster Sword lying on its side. The ground where it had stood was torn and tossed up, like someone had wrestled to get it out. Like someone had been really desperate to pull it out. In a force of habit, Cloud quickly shot a few glimpses around himself to see if anyone was still around. Well, one thing was for sure: whoever it was wasn't here anymore, and was most likely long gone. He bent down and curled his fingers around the sword's blood stained handle and smashed it back into the ground. He lingered there for a while, his hand still holding the sword.

"Having trouble letting go?"

Cloud didn't turn around this time. But he did take his hand off the sword's handle, taking a small step back while keeping his eyes fixated on that spot in front of him.

"You know, it IS your sword."

He shook his head stubbornly. "That sword belongs to a hero," he replied.

"A hero, huh? Well, aren't you a hero, too?"

Again he shook his head no. He wasn't a hero by any stretch of the imagination. "I'm no hero," he murmured to himself.

"Hey, do you know what makes a hero, a hero?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes silently, not sure what he was trying to get at by asking such a question, especially to him.

"Heh-heh, well, I don't really know either, to tell you the truth. I guess it depends on who you ask. The definition of a hero is probably different for everyone. But I know this for a fact: every hero has had their share of mistakes. We're not perfect, Cloud. Despite what people think."

"Every hero I've ever known, or even heard of, had to die to get there. I'm not dead."

"But…you _did_ die."

Cloud's dark blue eyes shut for a moment before he looked past the Buster Sword to Midgar Edge, the city he'd called home once. The city he'd saved. The city he'd abandoned. The city he'd died in, and the city he'd been sent back too. So many points of his life as of late, whether they had been good or bad points, had somehow saved that same city in the end. But did that really make him a hero? That couldn't be what made him a hero to the people who knew him. Because if it was, then just about anyone could be a hero. There had to be something else to it. There had to be another reason. It couldn't be self gratification because that wouldn't be a hero. That would make them vigilantes.

"I may have died…but I'm still here."

"Maybe it wasn't your time. Maybe you're still needed here."

"Maybe."

He wasn't convinced. An entire year had gone by and nothing had changed. He was still the same person he'd been for almost five years now. The same mako-fused monster. Involuntarily, his hand reached up and clasped his left arm, his grip tightening when the pain wouldn't go away. It was like it was warning him of something. Danger. Danger. Something's wrong. Something's coming.

"Cloud! Look out!!"

In a split second decision, Cloud dodged unsteadily to the side, yanking the main piece of his sword from the bag slung across his lower back. He turned to face whatever had just smashed its claw down where his head had been and for a small instant, froze in recognition. It was a summon. And not just any summon; it was the Bahamut SIN. The very same creature he'd fought a year ago with Vincent, Tifa, and the rest of AVALANCHE. But, how could it still be here? Hadn't he killed it way back when? He'd watched it burn in blue flames as the foot of the structures it had destroyed. Cloud dodge rolled the other direction when the Bahamut brought down its other set of claws to crush him. It wasn't going to give him any time to figure it out. So first things first. One step at a time.

He would have to kill it again.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO.

It was plainly obvious that he couldn't kill it the same way he had the last time, seeing as that apparently hadn't worked out. Well, that raised the question he was supposed to go about getting rid of it. He didn't have the same he had last time AND he'd had help. There was no one to help now. But he wasn't about to let that stop him from winning. It was do or die with a summon as monstrous as this and as far as Cloud was concerned, dying wasn't an option. He held his sword at the ready as the giant summon lifted its massive metal paw to strike. Gripping the sword with both hands, he brought it up with a swift move to block. The force of the blow against his defense was enough to jar his elbows and he had to grit together, tightening his grip in order to maintain the pressure his sword put between him and the enemy. With a flourished stroke, he twisted to the side and slashed his sword through the air, connecting with and managing to cut off three of its claws. It began to scream and howl. With a shrieking cry, it thrashed about wildly, its tail lashing around in the dirt. Next thing Cloud knew, its tail had connected with his side and launched him right off the edge.

For what seemed like the longest few seconds ever endured, Cloud felt himself in a straight freefall towards the rocks below. Thinking fast, he curved his back and extended his arm, attempting to grip something on the side of the sheer edge. After a few tries, he quickly realized that it wasn't going to work. He brought his sword around and thrust it into the rock in hopes of slowing his descent. It worked for a bit, but something inside the rock must have been pretty damn solid because his sword suddenly jammed. It jerked up roughly and he lost his grip, falling the rest of the way. About the halfway point of the rest of the way down, he pulled his legs underneath him and landed easily on one of the rocks below. Had he not slowed himself down, the landing wouldn't have been as easy. Sure, he'd fallen from much higher heights before, but he'd been expecting it then. This time, not so much. Looking back p to where he'd fallen from, he realized that it had quieted down by quite a bit. Where was the Bahamut? Had it not followed him? Pushing off the rock, he shot himself up to the edge, grabbing his weapon on the way up.

But when he got back to the top, it became obvious that the giant summon was nowhere to be found. Not on the ground, and not in the sky. It didn't matter which way he looked; he couldn't find it. Not that he wanted to find it in the first place. He wasn't even sure how'd it had found him. For another couple of minutes he stood confused. Why had it attacked him and then fled? How was it still alive? Or better yet, who had summoned it in the first place? All good questions that didn't have answers to match them. Feeling more unsure than ever, he mounted Fenrir and the bike roared to life. He drove off without a single glance over his shoulder, the sky beginning to darken through its blanket of grey. Had night finally come? It was hard to say anymore. Time passed so slowly nowadays.

After maybe an hour or so of driving without an end in mind, he eventually decided to head back to Aerith's church. He left Fenrir a couple of feet from the door, his footsteps gently echoing through the empty building. His dark blue eyes glanced to the small pond at the back of the church, watching the still surface. Originally he'd brought Zack's sword back here, but decided to leave it where his friend had fallen as a sort of memorial.

Alone with his thoughts now, Cloud went back to the fight with the Bahamut SIN. There was something had been bothering him since it showed up, besides the obvious. Something that didn't quite fit into place. The way it fought him…it was like it had purposefully been trying NOT to kill him. Maybe that was why it had fled. Whoever had summoned it—

He cut himself off there. He was reading into it way too much. For all he knew, the Bahamut hadn't even been looking for him. Or at least, he hoped that was right.

"Cloud!"

Cloud took a step to the side in order to turn and face the direction of the small voice that had called out his name. Marlene ran up to him, beaming, and grabbed his hand with bother of hers. She smiled at him warmly, and then looked over her shoulder at the doors.

"Tifa, look! Cloud's here!"

He looked up from Marlene's face as Tifa walked in after her, her face a mixture between shock and happiness. Like she was happy to see him, yet shocked that he was actually standing in front of her. She also seemed to believe that her presence required some sort of an explanation.

"I promised Marlene we'd come here today."

"So late?"

She nodded just as he felt Marlene tug on his hand.

"You should come back with us! Denzel will be happy to see you," she suggested.

Cloud thought about him silently for a moment, neither looking at Tifa nor Marlene. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Denzel, or come back, that wasn't it at all. But Cloud knew that if he went back now, there was the possibility that he wouldn't be able to leave again. That was something he couldn't afford, what with the kind of things that had happened already today. What if the summon came after him again? They'd be right in the middle of it. He knew Tifa could take care of herself, but she also believed in fighting even when the stakes were stacked against you. Plus, Denzel and Marlene were just kids. He wouldn't be able to protect them and himself at the same time. And goddess knew Midgar Edge couldn't deal with another attack on a large scale like that.

"You _should _come home," Tifa encouraged, tilting her head to the side. "Please?"

He didn't listen to her plea. Looking her directly in the eyes, he gently shook his head no. Tifa's eyes turned downcast and Marlene's expression became promptly crestfallen. Tifa walked over to Marlene and hesitantly put her hands on the little girl's shoulders.

"Let's go Marlene," she said in a hushed voice.

"But—" The little girl gave her a pleading glance that she was almost tempted to give into, but when Cloud gently pulled his hand from Marlene's small grasp, Tifa finally guided her back out the church and threw a last look at him from over her shoulder. Cloud watched them leave with a smoothed out expression, but inside, it had hurt for him to tell them that he wouldn't come home.

It would have taken a miracle for him to have gotten any sleep that night.


End file.
